Pulp Fiction Trivia

From The Quentin Tarantino Archives

• Back to Pulp Fiction

• Vincent Vega and Mr. Blonde are brothers.

• The Chevy Nova Vincent and Jules are cleaning up which ultimately ends up in Monster Joe's junkyard was used in Reservoir Dogs. A 70s Chevy Nova can also be seen in Tarantino's Death Proof as Stuntman Mike's weapon of choice.

• Vincent tells Lance that someone keyed his car. The person who did it was Butch Coolidge. It was revenge for Vincent insulting him at Marsellus' bar.

• Knoxville, Tennessee, where Butch was meeting his connection and where his great-grandfather bought the gold watch, is also Quentin Tarantino's birthplace.

• Steve Buscemi was the Buddy Holly waiter in the Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant. However, as Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs (1992), he refused to tip waitresses.

• The cab driver, Esmeralda Villalobos (Angela Jones) appeared in a 30-minute short called Curdled (1991) in which she played a character who cleaned up after murders. This makes her fascinated by the idea of murder. Quentin Tarantino saw this film and decided to include this character in Pulp Fiction (1994) but as a cabdriver. This short may have also inspired the character of The Wolf played by Harvey Keitel. It did however get Tarantino to produce a full length feature film, released in 1996.

• The opening surf rock instrumental song "Miserlou" by Dick Dale was chosen by Tarantino to give the film a "modern spaghetti western" feel.

• The black and white suits worn by Vincent and Jules are their "suits of armor", according to QT.

• The kind of car The Wolf drives is an Acura NSX.

• The Ezekiel 25:17 speech Jules recites was based on the introduction scrawl of the Sonny Chiba action film The Bodyguard.

• The different weapons Butch picks up in Maynard's pawn shop are references to different films. The Bat (Walking Tall), The Chainsaw ('The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), The Hammer (Friday The 13th Pt 2), The Samurai Sword (Lone Wolf and Cub series).

• The character Monster Joe (Monster Joe's Truck and Tow) is a homage to one of QTs favorite directors: Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins, The Burbs). In the deleted footage, Monster Joe is played by Dick Miller, who usually makes cameos in all of Dante's films.

• Music/musicians referenced: Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, The Beatles, Ringo Starr.

• Comic books: Archie, Lash LaRue.

• Historical/general pop culture references: Phillip Morris, McDonalds, Burger King, Sprite, World War I, World War II, Vietnam.

• Set in the The Realer Than Real World Universe.